The Paths We Take
by Leonora Chris
Summary: Gibbs never killed Hernandez and he never joined NIS/NCIS. But Tony did.


**_(I don't own NCIS or the characters etc from it, only the story is mine.)_**

**Just one of those small things in my head, which I decided to share... Just like certain other story, I almost didn't post this..._ (Well, I did and then took it down, leaving it to another site...)_ Just one of those "_Why did I write this?!_" moments. It happens once in a while. Sorry about that.  
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_**Leo**_

* * *

><p>"Give up Hernandez! There's no way for you to go! It's over!"<p>

The man only showed his teeth in response and raised his head in a proud manner. Either it was the ugliest smirk he had ever seen or then it was a sneer. It was becoming clear how this was going to end. Hernandez proved it true by pulling out his second weapon. That was all the answer the agents surrounding him needed and they opened the fire. Some may call it overkill, but this man had been running from the law and justice for years. And the longer he'd been out there, the more people lost their lives or their lives were destroyed.

"Boss." One of the younger agents speaks to his boss after they had made sure the man was dead for sure.

"You think we're ever going to find out the full body count he left behind?"

"Doubtful. Let's give Ducky room to work."

They watched as another car stopped on the scene soon after, having been waiting in a safe distance for this very moment. Doctor Mallard, their Medical Examiner, steps out. He has a grim look on his face which you didn't see him wear that often.

"Anthony..." He walks to the younger man. He looks hopeful.

"Did you get him?"

"We got him, Ducky. It's finally over." Tony nods. Ducky sighs, looking like the world had been lifted from his shoulders. All the bodies left by that man. Too many which came through his morgue... They could finally close this chapter in their lives...

"Thank Heavens... Well done, my boy... Well done..." He pats Tony's arm and walks towards the bloody scene. Not looking one bit unnerved by it.

"Come along, Gerald! We have work to do."

"Good luck." Tony smirked and Gerald Jackson rolls his eyes, running after Ducky. Since there were other dead too besides Pedro Hernandez, both his and their men, they had their hands full of work for the rest of the week. Gerald was grateful in that moment that by now he was so used to the gruesome crime scenes.

Tony clapped his hands together to get his agents attention. "Okay everyone! Good work! Let's finish things up here so we might still get some sleep for a couple of hours! Tomorrow is another long day for us!"

"On it boss!" His SFA answered with a tired, but wide smile. They'd been working almost nonstop for a couple of weeks on this war against the Mexican drug dealers, namely Hernandez, but it was all worth it now that they had even one scumbag off the streets.

"Yes boss." His junior agent answers calmly. Too tired to look cheerful, but even he had a small smile on his face. Tired, but still a smile.

"Right away, agent DiNozzo..!" Their probie was the most eager of them all. This being her first and possibly biggest case for some time.

With a soft laughter, Tony saw the way his junior agent was about to fall asleep on his feet. Deciding that it would be the best for them all, he sent him to get them some coffee. "Watch your six!"

"I'm just going to buy some coffee, boss..."

"I know. Watch your six."

He wanted to just go to sleep, but knew that his agents would be looking at him as their example, Tony willed the sleepiness away and went back to work. Sleep could wait, the crime scene wouldn't.

* * *

><p>"Good work, agent DiNozzo."<p>

Tony stood in the director's office and hid his smile at the compliment. "Not going to tell me anything about how we could have tried to bring him in alive?"

The director looks up from the report. "I said, good work, agent."

"Thank you, sir."

Leon Vance grunts his reply. It was true. Normally they would've had a long talk how he should have brought the man in, alive and not in a body bag. But the truth is, this was easier for them all... People like Hernandez usually found a way out or then they somehow found a way to lead their crime circles from the prison. However impossible, they always seemed to find a way... Well, the worst ones anyway.

Looking up, he saw that his agent was still standing there. Something like amusement glimmering in the younger man's eyes. "Go home. You and your agents. Take rest of the week off, unless something just as urgent comes up of course."

"There are still some reports that-"

"Tell your agents that those can wait. Not everyone can '_work smarter and not harder_', agent."

"Aye aye, sir..." Tony smirked and left the office.

Leon shook his head. Sometimes it was such a shame that the man was the head of their best team...

* * *

><p>Instead of going home to get some rest, as his body was practically screaming for, Tony found himself sitting in his car. Staring at the house that looked so much like the house his wife wanted them to buy. Part of him was all for it, but on the other hand he knew too well how most nice looking things were just an illusion. Hiding behind the nice walls was the cruel reality of this world. It was all thanks to his long career in law enforcement that he had a hard time finding comfort in the idea of living in a house like that...<p>

Glancing at the time again, he wondered once more if he would dare to go in there at 1am. Any normal people were asleep...

Just as long as he had studied and worked on the case of Hernandez, just as long he had studied most of the victims the man had left behind. And the man living in that house was one of them who had left the biggest impact on him.

The man was a widow and retired Marine sniper. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He'd chuckled at the name for a bit, until he read how Hernandez had stolen his wife and daughter from him. They were murdered while the man himself had been away. Tony didn't even want to imagine how he would feel if that would ever happen to his family... To lose his wife and children in such brutal way... God, he prayed he never had to go through that kind of pain... And he hoped his wife would finally understand why he wanted them to move to a much more secure place than a normal neighbourhood as this...

The knock against his car window snapped him out of his thoughts. Irritated looking older man stood there, looking at him. While he looked much older now, than in the picture Tony had seen, his sharp blue eyes hadn't changed. He knew he was looking at Jethro Gibbs.

Tony rolls the window down. "Yes?"

"What you mean '_yes_'? You keep standing here and I'll call the cops _if_ you're lucky! You end up unlucky, I'll just shoot you!"

Tony laughed softly. "I'm sorry... I am a cop. Well, Navy cop. NCIS."

"NCIS..?"

"Used to be a N-"

"I know what it is!" Gibbs snaps. The pure hatred towards the NCIS, or NIS as it used to be, was so obvious he'd have to be blind to not see it... Oh boy, he so looked forward to this now... Not that he wouldn't blame the old man for shooting him...

"Look... I'll leave if this is too much for you... I just had some news I thought you'd want to know, but I can just call you or send you a letter or something..."

Gibbs stares at him for a while and then walks away. When Tony just keeps staring at him, he turns around and barks at him at his door. "You coming or not!?"

"Sure, I can read your mind..." Tony mutters to himself and leaving his car, he jogs after the older man. Secretly wondering if he should call his wife and kids first. Who knew if the man was going to kill him for working for the people he seemed to hate so much...

By the time he stepped inside, he was hit with a wall of something. "What is that..?"

"Coffee..." Gibbs mutters and pointing at the couch in the living room, he waits until Tony was sitting down, before giving the younger man the other coffee cup.

Eyeing the coffee suspiciously, Tony started suspecting the man was actually trying to poison him. Just the stench of that black liquid was too much for him... Or maybe it was black goo..? It was hard to tell...

"So..." Tony decided to hold the cup in his hands and as soon as the man would look away, he'd get rid of it... No way was he going to drink that...

"Pedro Hernandez..."

Gibbs's entire posture changed and something flashed in his eyes. Then he looked defeated and there was a pained look, which gave Tony strange feeling that he wasn't supposed to see, so he looked at his cup of... 'coffee'.

"We got him. I'm sorry it comes so late... Too many years..."

The older man's hands tighten around his own cup of coffee and he finally sits down. "How long..?"

"I think ever since he-"

"No... I mean how long_ you've_ been working on it..?"

Tony blinks. "Well, since it was a cold case... Couple of years, I guess..."

When Gibbs looks at him, he looks down again. "Two years, four months and thirteen days..."

Gibbs nods. "For a cold case... That means you worked on that while working on any other cases at the same time, right..?"

"Yes..."

"Is he..?"

"Dead. Fifteen bullets and our Medical Examiner made sure of it..."

The clock ticking on the wall and the long silence was making his ass itch terribly, but Tony bit his tongue and prayed silently for a sign that he could leave without seeming rude. Finally Gibbs spoke again.

"Agent..."

"DiNozzo. Anthony DiNozzo."

"Thank you."

Without knowing how, but somehow he knew that was the sign he'd been waiting for. '_Dismissed_'. He could almost hear the man saying it to him, even if he hadn't spoken it out loud. Standing up, Tony left the cup of coffee and with a short goodbye, he left. Deciding that he hadn't seen the first tear rolling down the man's face or heard the quiet sound he made as he was trying to hold back his strong emotions. And Tony knew better than trying to say anything. There would be no words to ease that kind of pain. Even time couldn't do that. It would only make it easier to go through the day, but the pain would be never gone.

He hated cases like these, but at least he'd made sure justice was given to the victims, even if it was many years too late...

_**The End.**_


End file.
